This came up on a different forum I frequent, and they actually found it acceptable to have an automatic transmission, citing things like advances in technology which allow them to shift faster, and the nuisance of driving a manual in stop and go traffic. My argument is, if you’re not comfortable dealing with this nuisance for the sheer enjoyment of having a MT, then you’re not really a car enthusiast at all. You’re an average Joe with a car, that posts on a forum.
Now this doesn’t apply to your beaters ofcourse, we’re talking about your “main” car, the one that you say when people ask you what you drive.
Just curious to see people’s take on this… I suspect results here will be somewhat different.
for a DD that you dont particularly care about and that doesnt cost you anything… i’ll take it.
but if i intend to enjoy the car or if it is solely for myself then only standard.
i bought the wife an auto and i am currently driving an auto beater…
My 240sx is a auto, and its a POS.
I would rather be driving manual.
But i’m broke.
Auto = FTW : naughty stuff while driving 
manual all the way. i agree that it does become a bit of a nuisance during ‘stop and go’ traffic especially when travelling on downtown toronto streets, but then again, i love it. it just makes you feel more in control of what you drive and thus becomes part of you lol. auto is ok, once in awhile, on long rides and what not …
my 2 cents
Like Bing said, for a car I buy to enjoy as a driving machine, manual for sure. Even for day to day, I prefer manual, I don’t mind driving in stop and go traffic, it gives me something to do instead of just sitting there. I will drive auto, and don’t mind it terribly, but given the choice I’ll take standard any day of the week.
Meh. GT-R will only be automatic and my house has a long standing standard only policy.
same here my house also goes by the standard policy. honestly i prefer standard over auto, ive driven a few auto’s its nice its relaxing, but i dont see my driving auto day in day out, its just not the same driving experience
The only reason why I went with manual was so that everyone that I knew in high school would give me more respect for driving a manual.
Driving an auto in highschool = fail.
every one says driving in stop and go traffic is a pain but honestly once your good at driving standard you don’t even think about it… it becomes second nature…driving auto is boring… thats why ppl get into so many accidents cause they figure since they don’t have to change gears they can do everything under the sun.
QFT.
I drive an auto240 just bcoz i couldnt get a hold of a manual, but plan on swapping the engine once i save up enough so I can drive stick. thats my main motivation for engine swap not hp numbers for which i could’ve tried kade-t but will most likely go stock ca18det, if i can swap it myelf or get some mecha to do it cheap. & yeah i agree with purposebuilt i pretty much do everything under the sun while drivin auto- i smoke, dial a number & talk (no handsfree kit), change cds or tracks, at times my only contact with the wheel is my knee
I have no issue with automatic’s when it comes to Van’s, or trucks, thats practical.
The one thing I noticed about daily drivers that use automatic transmissions is that they ARE easily distracted…
But. You can’t stereotype people just because of the type of transmission in their car.
A number of things come into play…
On top of that, these BS driving schools dont help either.
I personally could never see myself buying an automatic, I just prefer manual in every way…it’s never even slightly bothered me in traffic etc.
About the only thing for autos would just be vans/trucks as multisynclg said…or maybe if I had a 4th car it could MAYBE be an auto SUV.
like bing said
My DD FJ is Manual. I turned down a couple other suv’s because they were not available in MT. Its a bitch driving my s14 MT in stop & go traffic because of the heavy clutch. AT is good for my wife’s Mazda 3.
There are disadvantages and advantages to both of course.
Turbo + Automatic is incredible.
Theres a reason that 90% of race cars these days use automatic/semi-automatic transmissions… they’re faster.
That’s not to say that the piece of garbage transmission that we get in our 240’s is faster than MT though, but that’s sincerely a bad example.
Most NEW auto trannies, especially over the last few years with twin pressure plates from vw and others are getting down to the sub 100ms gear changes - I think some are even in the 10ms range. That’s not even remotely possible with a manual transmission.
like i said, they both have their place in my mind. I hate driving automatic too though.
My boss has a ferrari 575m that’s automatic w/ “f1” paddle shifters and it’s no fun at all to drive.
//edited for mike//
I just remembered,
I had a boss last year around this time who had an s55 AMG. It was auto / paddle shifting
& it was freaking fast.
Even though his car was amazing, he still wanted to give my car a test drive… When I asked him why? he replied because he missed the ‘‘real thing’’
I guess you could say that semi/automatic transmissions is kinda like jacking off, it may help you get off faster but it’s still not the “real thing”.
couldn’t have put it better my self. Although i am picking up an Auto 240 this week…lol.
GOD i miss driving manual
The thing here is, SMG, DSG, Ferrari F1, Nissan’s paddle box are NOT automatic gearboxes. They are manual boxes with advanced clutch and selector designs. That being said, I think BMW’s SMG is dogshit, Audi’s DSG is impressive and I havent driven anything newer than a '98 Ferrari 355F1 (which was still better than an '06 M3 or M5). I would totally rock an A3 with a DSG box without question. Loved tracking a DSG GTI at an event. I still prefer full manual boxes, but street sequentials have their place.